Our Man In Hibernia: Ireland, The Irish And Me
If you think you know Ireland, this book will make you think again. Each year on St Patrick’s Day the eighty million people around the world claiming Irish ancestry celebrate their spiritual homeland. Millions more don leprechaun hats and swallow pints of Guinness in an annual global high-fiving of all things Irish. Charlie Connelly was [...]
Read moreAnd Did Those Feet: Walking Through 2000 Years Of British And Irish History
The landscape of Britain and Ireland is filled with history. We can’t walk five yards up the street without tripping over the stuff. The thing is, with the pace of life these days we miss most of it as it flashes past the car window between Little Chefs. Do we even realise that we’re following [...]
Read moreIn Search Of Elvis: A Journey To Find The Man Beneath The Jumpsuit
Since his death in 1977 Elvis Presley has become an even greater cultural icon than when he was making records and consuming deep-fried peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches. In Search of Elvis sees Charlie Connelly set off on a journey to discover what makes Elvis so significant today and how his spirit is being kept alive more than [...]
Read moreAttention All Shipping: A Journey Round The Shipping Forecast
The solemn, rhythmic intonation of the shipping forecast on BBC radio is as familiar as the sound of Big Ben chiming the hour. Since its first broadcast in the 1920s it has inspired poems, songs and novels in addition to its intended objective of warning generations of seafarers of impending storms and gales. Sitting at [...]
Read moreStamping Grounds: Exploring Liechtenstein and its World Cup Dream
Stamping Grounds follows the Liechtenstein national football team through their defeat-strewn qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup. Drawn in a group with Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria and mighty Spain, it was hard to see the principality’s part- time players scoring even one goal, never mind adding to its meagre international points total. So what motivates a [...]
Read moreMany Miles…: A Season In The Life Of Charlton Athletic
A diary of Charlton’s finest season for nearly half a century, featuring in-depth interviews with players and key figures behind the scenes. Even the most ardent Charlton Athletic supporter had limited ambitions at the start of the 2000/01 Premiership campaign. The buzzwords around The Valley were ‘survival’ and ’17th place’. Despite the Addicks having won [...]
Read moreSpirit High And Passion Pure: A Journey Through European Football
European football is growing to gargantuan proportions. Thanks to the expansion of the Champions’ League, the best club sides appear on television almost every week. The European Championships grow bigger and more lucrative with every tournament. Yet what lies beyond the faux-classical strains of the Champions League theme music? Is modern European football just big [...]
Read moreLondon Fields: A Journey Through Football’s Metroland
The end of the millennium proved to be a boom time for London football. The 1998-99 season saw six of the capital’s clubs gracing the Premiership, Fulham storming their way to the Second Division title and Millwall and Leyton Orient reaching Wembley. In London Fields, Charlie Connelly uses the metropolis to examine the state of [...]
Read moreI Just Can’t Help Believing
Relegation helps to keep football sane”, says Charlie Connelly at the start of this engrossing study of the downside to a competitive system. He cites the recent rise, fall, and at time of writing rise again, of free-spending Middlesborough to persuasively show that, sometimes, money just isn’t enough. Even champagne Charlies go down if they [...]
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